Back to the hotel for brainstorming + a meeting of the minds in pj’s . . .

Last weekend Lori and I finally met up for our belated birthday weekend getaway. We usually meet in November, the actual month of our birthdays, but life happened, so we decided to meet up in February in Carmel. Let me tell you, it really was worth the wait. We stayed at Carmel Valley Ranch, a beautifully serene resort that was absolute perfection, and just what the Doctor ordered. When Lori and I get together, we cant help but talk shop, all the while encouraging and brainstorming ideas for each other’s businesses. It comes naturally, and it’s always fun. I left there with a healthy To Do List, and a recharged mind and priorities. I look forward to implementing some of my goals immediately. I will share here with you that God has been putting it on my heart to become more visible in my brand. It’s definitely something I struggle with, being the hardcore-introvert-behind-the-scenes-gal that I am. I’ve been working on ways to do it in a way that feels authentic to me. So be on the look out for more glimpses of me *cringe.* And if you see me around social media, coming out of my shell, be sure to say hi! The part that makes it worth it is getting to know you guys!

on our way out of New Orleans, we got yummy beignets for the road . . .

the infamous Music Factory in the French Quarter . . .

a Canal Street restaurant . . .

so in love with the Live Oaks + Spanish moss . . .

Hello friends, it’s been a while! It’s been a wonderful summer so far. So much has transpired in the last few weeks, one thing being that my family and I took a 17 day road trip across the country last month and it was absolutely ah-mazing. We saw so much of this beautiful country and our spirits were thoroughly rejuvenated. There’s nothing like travel for renewing the mind, spirit, body and soul. I basically took a mini work hiatus during travel time with the fam and was able to fully dedicate myself and my energy to enjoying each moment. Fortunately, the way I have set up my business has allowed me to be able to take these necessary breaks and I swear, it’s part of what helps me to stay motivated to continue creating, and building my business. I’ve returned from vacation fully motivated, and full of new designs, ideas and projects to implement and share with you guys over the next few months. In the meantime, hope you enjoyed a few snaps from our time in New Orleans. :)

Every few days or so I’m struck with wanderlust… honestly, I think that is my normal operating status. I basically live in a constant state of wanderlust. As a child, my family moved around quite a bit and I loved it. Discovering new neighborhoods, finding new places to shop, hang out and stroll through, that was adventurous to me. Being the new kid at schools wasn’t always fun, but even though I was shy, I made great friends all over the country that I’m still friends with to this day. As of now, I’ve been living in the same place for 14 years. I’m so thankful for my home, I love it, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t restless. Until that next move, travel is my best friend. Travel doesn’t have to be long international trips, (although those are wonderful). Travel can be short one nighters, day trips or weekend jaunts, just as long as there’s a change of scenery. When I am traveling and immersing myself in new surroundings, observing the locals, and ogling architecture, I am in heaven. It’s totally mind refreshing and inspirational to me.

TGIF!!! It’s been a busy week around these parts! The LA Fashion Council kicked off LA Fashion Week with shows at Maker City in downtown Los Angeles this week. So far, my favorite of the shows I attended was Odylyne. I’ll be reviewing the line on the blog next week. But for now, here’s a behind the scenes sneak peak of a few of the pieces . . . .

Last weekend we drove up to Central California, Hanford, to be exact, to spend the weekend with Reston’s best friend + family who recently moved there. It’s an agricultural town, lots of dairies and farms, which I love. Fun fact: Hanford is well known for their ice cream, the brand is called Superior and it’s made locally and packaged right there in Hanford. Of course I loved the pink box and old school typography so I had to snap a shot. They have an ice creamery in town, but there was a Renaissance Fair going on and streets were blocked off so we opted for the take home kind. It was delish!!!

The plan was to stay over at our friend’s house and drive up to Sequoia National Park on Sunday. But I underestimated my dog allergies -they have two little doggies and I was equally allergic to both, even though they were being kept away from me in different rooms :( So after they treated us to dinner at Harris Ranch Restaurant, we opted to stay over at the adjoining Harris Ranch Inn. BTW, did you know that Harris Ranch is California’s largest source of beef, and the largest ranch on the West Coast? I don’t eat much beef, but the steak was good and the loaded baked potato was AWESOME!!!!!

Peops are serious about their cows in these parts. The lobby was decorated in full dude ranch style. Cowhide sofas and longhorn chairs . . . Yee Haaaah!

The next morning we headed out on the open road to Sequoia. Along the way we stopped at Pinky’s Produce, a roadside fruit stand, for some freshly squeezed orange juice. I’m told it is the best around. Of course, I loved the signage and pink lettering . . .

Then it was time to hit the road again. It was a beautiful drive, especially once we got into the forest. I LOVE trees, and there were tons of them. Beautiful tall redwoods and lots of cool fresh air. A nice break from those heatwave temps we’ve become accustomed to.

Our goal was to do a cave tour, but we found out that the one we wanted was sold out. While we were waiting, the kids discovered an old relic known as a “pay phone.” They were fascinated by the buttons and attached cord. I realized that it had been a while since I had seen one myself! The park rangers told us about another cave tour that was 2 hours up the mountain, and everyone was game so we headed back out. On the way, we stopped to see General Sherman, a giant Sequoia tree. By volume, General Sherman is the largest known living single stem tree on earth. And he was massive. You can see him below . . .

This photo will give you a better perspective. You can see how tiny we look standing at the base of this tree. Now that’s some serious trunkage, wouldn’t you agree?

We ended our trip with a really cool cave tour at Boyden Cavern in Kings Canyon. It was both fun and informative. I will share more about it later, but if you are ever in Sequoia National Park, I recommend you go. Our guide was great and it was very beautiful, both inside the cave and out.

Happy Friday!! I hope you all have a fab weekend. I’ll be covering the CONCEPT Fashion shows this Saturday, and I’m looking forward to sharing more of the goodies on hand for S/S ’15 next week.

Those of you who know me well, know that I like my feet firmly planted on the ground. I do not like roller coasters, zip lining, parachuting, bungee jumping, sitting on high bridges in traffic or flying in airplanes. I’ve been able to avoid most of these activities throughout my “wonderfully grounded” life. However, I have a bad case of wanderlust. And sometimes that requires travel by plane. Basically, I fly when I have to. I wish I didn’t have a fear of flying, and after writing this post, you will not hear me say that I have a fear of flying again. (In my mind, to speak it is to give into it) This “fear” of flying is something that came out of nowhere… well, I guess it came out of basic knowledge. (The knowledge being that planes can fall thousands of feet from the sky and crash into tiny bits.) As a child I used to travel frequently with my dad on business rips. I earned a few of my very own “wings” via American Airlines. I even got to go into the cockpit and meet the pilots. When I was little, I thought flying in an airplane was the most amazing thing!! Looking out the window at how little everything looked, seemed to make me feel a little bigger! I was doing what adults did! Looking down on the world from their perspective for a change (or so I thought).

Don’t ask me what happened. By the time I was in high school, the fear of flying had taken hold of me. I knew the fear was a mental thing. It was something I had allowed myself to give into in my mind, but it was a familiar fear. My grandmother was afraid of flying. She would come from Maryland to visit us in Jersey by train. She made no attempts to conceal her dislike of air travel. Give her Amtrak anytime. I somehow adopted this philosophy. To this day, travel by train is my favorite way to go. I’ve taken 4 cross country train trips and can not wait for my next one. Nevertheless, if you want to see the world, air travel just can not be avoided, unless you are a very rich person with a lot of free time on their hands (at the moment, I am neither of these). But that is what I find so interesting about certain types of fear. It makes even the most rational people somehow irrational. I tried to justify it by making mental notes of celebrities that do not like to fly (Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Connelly, Megan Fox, Jennifer Aniston . . . “see, I’m not alone, I told myself.”) somehow I thought if I found good company to keep then it was okay to hang onto this fear. I even kept that stupid statistic tucked away in the back of my head that touted how much more dangerous it was to travel by car on the freeway than it was to fly in an airplane. Nevertheless, when it was time to leave on my trip last week I was not looking forward to the 5-1/2-hour-2-plane-journey I was about to embark on. (the local weather man had predicted thunder and lightning storms to coincide with our departure). To top it all off the world had just experienced 3 . . . count ’em THREE plane crashes in the last month and here I was, stepping out of my no-fly zone onto the tarmac right in middle of all the “crash talking madness.” All the news stations were endlessly reporting on the crashes and interviewing people about how they felt about flying and how safe it actually was. I got so fed up with being afraid that I just decided not to be afraid anymore. I knew how to do it. I just wasn’t sure I could do it.

Flashback 20 years or so:: When I went away to college in DC, I had to fly. As excited as I was about going away to school, the thought of the impending flight was always looming in the back of my head, sort of dampering things. I remember that flight vividly. It was a red eye and there was alot of turbulence. I prayed the whole 5 1/2 hours. Knowing my dread for the flight I was to take, my Father wrote out a travel prayer and gave it to me before I left for school. I still have it. I keep it in my bible and every time I have flown since, it has been with me. This hand written prayer has got to be at least 20 years old. I had it with me when I went off to France after college graduation. I had it with me when I went off to New York for Thanksgiving with Rob before we got married. I had it with me when I flew to Hawaii for my honeymoon, (right after 9-11) it was with me yet again when I flew to San Francisco for my sister’s 40th birthday weekend, and I had it with me last week when we flew back east for my cousin’s wedding. It is part of the reason that I will never say I have a fear of flying again. The other reason is this: I was scared about my flight and I prayed to God to remove this fear from me. I asked Him for comfort and he gave me a gift. A vision if you will. In it, I saw myself running up to Jesus, like a little child, excited and happy to see him. I told Him I was scared and needed His help. He said “Ok, I will pray with you, but first I will call on my friend, The Holy Spirit.” He did, and the three of us stood there, arms linked, heads bowed, praying together peacefully, with joy in our hearts. When we were finished, Jesus spoke these words to me: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Wow! Now how could I be afraid after that? I used that vision + my travel prayer to carry me over the turbulence that visited each of the 4 flights I embarked on. I was still nervous and a little jumpy at some of the turbulence we experienced, but I am thankful that I know God loves me enough to take on my fears and that He has given me His Word to lean on when my “rational” mind rears it’s ugly head.

Do you have any fears you are trying to conquer? How do you quell your fears?

Last week we took a road trip to Austin, TX to participate in my brother and sister’s sport’s camp that they put on with their church every summer. This was the first time we’ve been able to go down for the sports camp. It was such a fun time! I really came away from the event being blessed by having seen all of the effort, energy, time and money that goes into putting on a free, 3 day sports camp for children in the community. It was so great to meet the local kids as well as other volunteers. I think the thing I came away with was that I can definitely do more. Life is about giving, and my brother and sister inspired me to find more ways to give of my time, energy or resources right here where I am.

I am a die-hard road tripper. Translation: I am always down for a road trip.I love the open road. However, the drive to Austin is not one of my favs. In my opinion, 80% of the drive is ugly. Dirt, sand, tumbleweeds, dry brush, + a few interesting plateaus thrown in against a beautiful sky. (I’m big on visual aesthetics, lol!) I thrive on and am energized by green grass, trees and flowers. The drive to Austin has virtually none of this -until the last leg of the trip. Which, depending on when you arrive, is usually done in darkness. This time we were able to see it during daylight hours, but we had a schedule to keep, so I had to take pictures from our moving minivan.

I loved the moody skies we had on our trip. It did rain a little, but most of it was just dramatic cloud cover. Although, on our drive back, we went through a 3 hour lightning storm! I wish I was talented enough in my photo skills to have captured that on film. I tried, but it was so hard to get the timing of the strikes + my finger to cooperate!

These plateaus made for a pretty horizon . . .

I thought the retro feel of the sheet-rock-60s-vibe rest stops that we came across were pretty cool. I’m not a big fan of public restrooms, especially the ones you find roadside, but these were surprisingly clean and well kept. They even had actual mirrors in them . . . which if you have traveled cross country before, you might have noticed, are few and far between. There was even a covered area for BBQ-ing. I did wonder to myself who would actually choose to BBQ at a rest stop in 100 degree weather on the side of the freeway in Arizona, but, the grill looked used, so I guess it happens more often than not!

By the time we got to the last leg of the trip, I was ready for some lush trees and grass. Texas is a HUGE state, so once we exited the 10 freeway, we still had another 862 miles to travel, and most of it was done on two lane highways and roads.

Look at how green and full these trees are! ♥ Happiness ensued . . .

We passed through a little town, but unfortunately this was the only shot I could get of it . . . like I said, it was a littletown, we were through it before I could get the camera back on and ready to go . . . Cool barn-like tavern though!

Saw lots of bulls grazing. Rob said if he could be any animal in the world he would choose to be a bull. I thought it was because he is a Taurus, but he said it was because they got to roam the open plains, eat and chill all day. Hmmm, the way a man’s mind works . . . .

Made a few friends along the way . . . We were on a deserted two lane road and Rob was able to stop the car so I could snap a pic. This little guy came over to see what was going on and decided to pose for me. Such a cutie . . .

We were able to see some pretty magical sunsets too. Next week I’ll be posting on fun things to do in Austin so stay tuned!!!

As always, my trip to San Francisco was a blast.There isn’t much I don’t love about this city (aside from how expensive it is and the cost of parking when we bring our car). This particular trip allowed me to explore some areas that I had not visited on prior trips. My blogging workshop was located in an area called Hayes Valley which is just under a mile from Union Square where we were staying. It’s such a fun, colorful place! There were food trucks:: Casey’s Pizzeria truck and The Juice Shop truck and great little restaurants all around. We spent a lot of time in a little square where people were sitting on blankets and benches, some were eating and some playing with their dogs. Just a really cool place to hang and be outdoors. There was a little side street we walked down that had a lot of pretty graffiti and painted walls. I forgot the name of the street, but it is right behind where the food trucks are parked. We stopped to take a few selfies . . . or “ussies” as I like to call them. ☺ I can’t wait to go back for my birthday trip in November.

♢♢♢

I can’t believe the end of May is nigh. This month went by so fast! I feel like I am saying that more and more often these days! Do you guys have any weekend plans? I’ve got events planned for both Saturday and Sunday, so I will be pushing the limits of introversion this weekend. Lol! But what’s life without a challenge right? ☺ Have you set any challenges or goals for yourself this weekend? If not, give yourself one or two. It always feels so good to be able to do things with purpose and knowingly accomplish something.

La Boulange Cafe + Bakery on the corner of Octavia and Hayes . . . I love the colors and outside seating.

Amazing juices from the Juice Shop truck . . . Love the colors and retro vibe of this truck! Did you notice the Aether store located behind the juice truck? It is made from shipping containers! You can see more of it’s super cool design here. Love it.

I love this graffiti covered brick wall . . . ♡

Have you ever had pizza from a pizza truck? I love the look of the truck, and of course the chic color choice of gray and white. I should have checked to see if they had gluten free pizza! (although that would kinda take the fun outta eating pizza from a truck!)

More graffiti-art covered walls . . . the purple flowers are so beautiful against the black, gray and creme of the walls . . .

The Makeshift Society co-working space on Gough + Hickory . . . This building had so many great details! Ceramic tiled exterior, decorative paned windows and amazing geometric ironwork at the bay windows. Much love for this . . .

An early morning view from the St. Francis, overlooking Union Square . . .

Can you spot the gold leafed base of the small terrace above a window? #details

An evening view from our hotel room . . .

The view from Look Out Point off the I5 on the drive back home . . .

If you are planning to visit San Francisco, check out Hayes Valley while you are there. If you enjoy people watching and cute restaurants, It won’t disappoint. You can see more pics of my Frisco trip here.

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Hi! My name is Ayanna. I am a handbag designer, artist + happy introvert, navigating my way through the extroverted world of fashion. Welcome to my blog! This is where I share style musings, inspirations, sneak peeks of new collections + collaborations, and introduce you to the people, places + things that inspire me. Follow my work in progress! I'm glad you're here!